Bagnall John Robert Pte 4455503
Personnel Entry
Name Bagnall John Robert
Army number 4455503
Rank Pte
Decorations
Date of birth 22/2/1920, Carrville, Durham.
Age 0
Unit Enlisted in the 8th Battalion The Durham Light Infantry, T, 2/5/39. Posted 11th Bn DLI 1/9/1939. Served BEF. Served Iceland. Served Normandy. Posted ? Bn DLI on the disbandment of 11th Battalion. Transferred to the Cameronians 26/11/44, docs to Perth 6/1/45, Enlistment Book missing.
Company/Battery
Platoon or other sub-unit
Task or role
Joined Brigade 1/9/1939.
Promotions
Wounded
Prisoner of War
Died/Killed in action Death registered in January 1994, aged 73.
Home address Resident of Brandon in 1982 when he joined the DLI Association. Previously the family had lived in Carrville and Belmont.
Source table 11DLI
The photograph of Private Bagnall is taken from the book "Around Durham" published by Suttons in 1998, and reprinted in 2004, and has been made available thanks to the kind assistance of the author, local Durham historian, Michael Richardson.
The image was taken in 1937 and illustrates the fact that two young men from the Belmont YMCA were selected to attend, as representatives, the Coronation of King George VI. The second young man was the researcher's late father, L/Cpl Robert Bagnall Dixon who was John Bagnall's first cousin. It will be noted that these two cousins joined 8th DLI on the same day in 1939, and indeed, have adjacent DLI Regimental Numbers. The "matching" photograph of L/Cpl Dixon, also in the context of local goods delivery, is included on his Page.
